France’s Perrine Delacour and Germany’s Aline Krauter share the lead on day one at the Investec SA Women’s Open, after the pair opened with rounds of 65 (-7) at Erinvale Country & Golf Estate.
Delacour carded a bogey-free round with an eagle on the third hole to make it a solid start. The 31-year-old, who plays on both the LPGA and LET, kept the momentum going with a birdie on the next hole and went on to add four more to her scorecard.
“I’m pretty happy with the round. I was struggling last week with my golf, so it’s turning out to be better this week. The course is so pretty. If you’ve had a rough day or a bad shot, you just look at the view and you’re like, well, it’s pretty so helps you to decompress for sure”, said the LET winner.
She continued: “I’m just feeling relaxed and just accepting that it’s ok to miss some shots. I have a good team around me which is great and so that’s really helping. I just have to keep trusting the process and see where it ends us. We’ve still got a lot of golf to play.”
She captured her first LET title at the 2024 Dormy Open Helsingborg in Sweden and will be aiming to add a second to her name this week.
Germany’s Aline Krauter dropped her only shot of the day to finish seven-under par (65), in sunny and still conditions. She had eight birdies across the front and back nine so kept consistent throughout the 18 holes.
Krauter, who is joined by her Mum and Dad this week, said after her round: “It was amazing. I started off with a birdie and then followed with a bogey, and that’s always kind of shattering after a nice opening hole, but just super steady today. It wasn’t as windy as I’ve heard it can get here, which was super nice, and I took advantage of that. I’m excited for the rest of the week”, said the 25-year-old.
Krauter came to South Africa for the first time two years ago and always loves coming back.
It is a tight leaderboard with three players in a share of third place, including Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann, Czech’s Sara Kouskova, and France’s Lucie Malchirand, on six-under par (66).
There was a hole-in-one on 14 from Bredenhann. “That was amazing”, said the 30-year-old from Namibia. “I was talking with my caddie back and forth on which iron, and then decided 158 meters, on six. I took the club and when I hit it, it just got off so nicely and the next moment it was just in the hole. I shouted, yes, then looked back at the board and it said for [500,000 South African rand] for rounds three and four – so was like wrong day but still very happy.” This marks Bredenhann’s second hole-in-one in two months so she will be hoping for another one at the weekend.
Malchirand had a solid start to the tournament, going bogey-free and having a string of birdies on the front nine – on holes three, four and five.
“It was a really nice round to be honest”, said the 22-year-old. “I just missed two or three for birdies, which is why it’s not the perfect round, but it was amazing. It felt good on the course. I felt good in my head.”
She only started working with her caddie three weeks ago so it is a good start for the pairing.
Kouskova carded seven birdies for the round and dropped her only shot of the day on 14.
“We took advantage of the par-fives. I was really happy with the stretch of birdies, but obviously you don’t want to look at it that much, and I just tried to keep doing the same thing. It’s still such a long way to go – three rounds ahead of us, so anything can happen.”
The 25-year-old has had a good start to the season, with a T6 finish at the Australian Women’s Classic and tied in a share of fourth place at the Ford Women’s NSW Open. The Czech will be looking for her maiden win on the LET this week.
Four players sit in a share of sixth place on five-under par at the end of the first day. Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck, South Africa’s Gia Raad, Austria’s Emma Spitz, and France’s Nastasia Nadaud, all fired rounds of 67 (-5).
Fuenfstueck had an impressive string of birdies on the front nine, carding four in a row. “It was like oh that’s quite nice. Oh, another one, another one. So overall it was a good day, and the greens are rolling really nicely. The course is in an amazing shape and I just kept my foot on the gas. Then I had a couple of bogeys – they weren’t even bad bogeys, but a bit too aggressive on some of them”, she said.
She has some of her German coaches here. “They’ve helped me recover and refresh, help on the range, get some work done which has been great”, she said.
South Africa’s Gia Raad is the leading amateur, with a round of 67 after 18 holes. Raad dropped her only shot of the day on 17 to make it a solid start for the 18-year-old.
Spitz, who celebrates her birthday today, had a solid round with six birdies.
“I think I had a lot of chances that I didn’t make, but on the last few holes, I finally was able to take advantage. I’m really pleased with the how I played today.”
Marianne Skarpnord currently sits in T10 and is no stranger to this tournament, having won it back in 2013 – but on a different golf course – Southbroom Golf Club.
England’ Mimi Rhodes unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury, so fellow rookie Brianna Navarossa stepped in as first reserve. Navarossa was able to put in a good performance for the first 18 holes, carding four-under par and also sits in T10.
This week marks England’s Rosie Davies’ 100th appearance on the LET, and she finished one-under par for the round.
Round two of the Investec South African Women’s Open continues tomorrow, with the first two groups going out at 7:15am (local time), and live coverage available 3-6pm (local time).
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